Urban trees play a vital role in shaping resilient, liveable cities. Behind every successful planting project is a complex chain of decisions, logistics, and collaboration — from nursery production to procurement and long-term maintenance. 

The recent workshop as part of the NZPPI Symposium, June 26 at Lincoln University Christchurch, brought together stakeholders across the plant production and urban planning sectors to explore how to better coordinate urban tree supply with council planting goals. Producers, planners and landscape contractors agreed on the importance of forward planning as last minute orders can lead to inconsistent specifications and species selections that are poorly suited to site conditions. Producers need reliable signals from buyers or they bear the risk of over- or under-supplying the market, and producing quality trees with desired characteristics requires years of lead time.

Workshop participants shared a vision of what better coordination could achieve. In this future, trees are seen as critical green infrastructure and there is consistent funding, long-term planning, and widespread public support. Producers are engaged early and often, and demand forecasting allows greater certainty for contract growing. Designers, policy makers, and clients are better informed about the ecological and functional roles of plants, and landscape architects, council officers, and urban planners have greater opportunities to learn directly from growers, and to see firsthand what successful long-term planting requires.

The workshop identified ways that the sector can support this transformation, including:

• Encouraging collaboration between producers, councils, landscape architects, and policy makers to align priorities and expectations.
  
• Advocating for better procurement systems and national standards, including consistent specifications for tree quality, form, and performance expectations.
  
• Promote the value of urban greenlife and trees through platforms such as TreeNet.
• Building alliances with related professional bodies such as NZILA and RNZIH to encourage cross-sector engagement — including growers, government regulators, designers, planners, and researchers — on a shared vision for green urban infrastructure.

To bring these ideas together, NZPPI, NZILA, RNZIH, Councils and universities could work more closely to:

• Advocate for policy alignment, including national canopy targets
• Develop shared resources and standards
• Coordinate knowledge-sharing, such as a shared newsletter or portal featuring new research, cultivar releases and production forecasts.
• Other -  we're keen to hear your thoughts!